


Saligia

by mermaidoftimee



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Abuse, BillDip, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Dark, Death, Demonic Possession, Demons, Depravity Falls, Evil Dumbledore, Horror, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Murder, Mystery, Nightmares, Possessive Behavior, Psychological Horror, Rituals, and lastly, depends on his mood tho, first fic I'm so excited eee, i guess??, mabifica, yeah okay it's that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 20:43:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3302843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermaidoftimee/pseuds/mermaidoftimee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper and Mabel return to Gravity Falls five years later to be welcomed by the same amount of weirdness, only this time things get a bit darker. Hormones and supernatural forces make sure nothing goes right and on top of that Dipper has to deal with a horrifying dream demon. Will they solve the ancient mystery they're faced with or will everything go horribly wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ebony doesn't float

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Klara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Klara/gifts).



> hello and welcome to my first fanfic! I am super excited and super nervous and not really sure what to put in this box but I hope you'll enjoy it at least a bit as much as I enjoyed writing it! I want to thank everyone who supported me into uploading this, it's a huge step and I'm so happy I'm able to take it. a mega super special thanks to klara for helping me a bunch and boosting my self confidence. and thank you precious reader for checking this out, it means a lot *wipes away single tear*. 
> 
> I just wanted to mention that even tho this chapter is pretty harmless there will be chapters in the future that make up for the M rating (I'll add eventual triggers in the notes and tags along the way since I'm not 100% sure what I'll upload yet)
> 
> lastly I just wanted to apologize to alex hirsch. for everything

The Gravity Falls forest, the place where it all started. You take a deep breath and the scents of the forest fill your nostrils. Coming back here, five years later, somehow feels like a half forgotten dream. A gentle breeze blows through the forest. It all feels so alive, so different from the loud city.

You walk calmly, your boots making soft imprints in  the moss under your feet as you look around the forest with fascination. It’s like seeing everything with new eyes. Well since the cells of an organic life form get replaced after a certain time that might technically be true. Wow Dipper cut out the geekery for just one second.

Your nerdy thoughts abruptly stop when  the ground suddenly crumbles under your feet. You yell out in panic as you fall. Landing down below with a thud, you feel the air escape your lungs before the world goes black.

 

△

 

You wake up. It’s darker now, at least an hour has passed since you passed out.  It seems like you’ve fallen down into an underground cave and you would probably worry about how you were going to get back up if it weren’t for your itch to explore this place.

"Mabel you gotta see this-"

Right. You’re so used to having your sister around at all times that you’ve forgotten she’s still at the shack catching up with her besties. But you just can’t wait, you need to explore this place straight away. You don’t have that much time though, it’s getting dark outside and you didn’t bring a flashlight. The only light comes from the small hole you fell down through far above and- something else, glowing? You stand up and  completely fail an attempt to brush the dirt off your clothes. As you look around the cave your eyes widen.

"Whoa."

Huge crystals emerge from the cave floor and smaller ones cover the walls. They’re all glowing faintly in different colours. Moss cover the cave floor and various plants cling to the walls. Anything is possible in Gravity Falls, including glowing crystals and plants growing without sun.

In the middle of everything is an underground lake. The water, just like the crystals, is glowing. You walk up the lake and get on your knees. As you peer down at the still surface and beneath, you realize this isn’t just any lake, it’s an entrance to an underwater cave.  The glowing crystals cover these walls as well, illuminating and colouring the water in amazing colours. The cave widens a bit about 10 metres down so you can only see part of it.  It must be huge because you can’t see any kind of bottom. Far down you spot some sort of movement. Fish? You laugh.

"This is amazing!"

It’s like the underwater cave tries to lure you in because you’re about to throw off your clothes before you realize what a bad idea that is. No, you have to come back later, well prepared.  A lot of things can go wrong if you act reckless in a place like this. A wonderful place like this. You need to bring something home with you though, as a souvenir. The choice is pretty obvious. You grab hold of a tiny crystal and break it off the cave wall. The light slowly goes out, as if you killed it. It feels a bit like vandalization and a pang of guilt hits you. Soon that feeling is gone though. Your next mission is to find your way out of here. Easy peasy. Not. You sigh and take out the old journal from your backpack, this might take a while.

 

△

 

"So what you’re saying is-"

Mabel is eating a huge cinnamon bun for breakfast, talking between the bites

"You found a magical cave in the middle of the forest?"

"Yes! It was amazing! We need to go there Mabel, you’ll love it I promise. "

"Glowing crystals and mystery fish?"

You nod. Her face lights up even further. When you’re sister gets excited she shines like a star. Mabel, just like you, hasn’t gone through any drastic changes during the last five years. She, however, doesn’t complain about it.

"Sounds a job for lady Mabelton."

You scoff. She swallows her cinnamon bun with a loud gulp.

"Let’s go bronana!"

She grabs your arm.

"Wait!"

"Huh?"

"I have to pack some stuff before we go."

"Oh come on Dipper why can’t we just go straight away? Amazing adventurers with nothing but cool boots and brave hearts."

"Because I’d rather not knock myself out again. And I don’t know about you but I am not diving in that magical lake naked."

"Hm yeah okay. I’ll go get our bathing suits!"

"Great!"

Just as Mabel is about to leave your great uncle walks into the kitchen yawning. He groans

"Coffee."

"I left some on the counter."

You nod towards the coffeepot. You’re about to leave when Stan clears his throat.

"Hold on just a second. What are you kids doing up so early in the morning?"

"Stan it’s 11 am. And since when do you care?"

"Just tell me what you’re up to or I’ll change the waifu password.”

"The wifi password?!"

You and Mabel almost scream out in horror.

"Yeah that thing."

For some reason you feel like this expedition should remain a secret. Hopefully Mabel feels the same way. You scratch your neck.

"We uh-"

"I’ll handle it."

Mabel mouths at you.

"We are going hunting!"

You stare at Mabel.

"For fairies!"

"What are you-"

"To make a potion to make Dipper pass puberty!"

"Hey!"

Stan laughs. Way too much and for way too long. Your whole face turns scarlet. He sighs heavily.

"It’s good to have you back kids"

Mabel shoves him playfully and winks.

"It is good to be back you gross old man."

"Yeah Grunkle Stan, it’s good to be back."

You smile, all three of you. Everything is great when you’re with the people you love.

 

△

 

It takes five minutes for Mabel to stop running around, jumping and screaming unrecognizable words at everything inside of the cave. Eventually she calms down, at least a little bit, but her eyes are still sparkling with excitement.

"Dipper! We should make this into our secret hideout!"

"Mabel we’re almost 18."

"Who cares?"

She sighs.

"We should be enjoying being kids when we still can."

"You know there aren’t any laws saying you’re not allowed to act like a kid as an adult."

"So then it’s decided. This is our secret hideout."

You laugh.

"Well what do you say sis, are you ready to explore this place?"

"Totally ready to the max bro bro".

It takes less than a minute for you  to change into your bathing suits. Mabel sits down and dangles her legs over the lake.

"Here."

You hand her a glow stick.

"Do we really need those?"

Her face is lit up by the glowing crystals.

"Better safe than sorry?"

"Nope, I’ll bring this instead! Tada!"

She brings a knife with a pink shaft shaped like a dolphin out of nowhere.

"Firstly why would you need a knife and secondly where did it come from?"

"In case I need to stab something in the face."

You stare wide eyed at her.

"I’m joking!"

She shoves you hard and you almost fall into the lake.

"Maybe I’ll find something cool that I’ll have to cut loose."

"Hmm yeah good thinking."

The glow stick glows through your gripping hand.

"Countdown?"

"Countdown! "

"1"

"2"

"3!"

You take a deep breath and dive into the water. It embraces you in its cool arms. The water is completely clear and you can see every little detail. Despite the fact that you’re a great swimmer and that you can hold your breath for a long time you still have to be fast. Down down down, soon the cave walls will widen and you’ll reach the part of the cave you’ve been longing to explore.

You put your hands on your mouth as you almost open it. The place is huge, big and small tunnels everywhere. The crystals in here are glowing way brighter. Mabel shakes her hands and points at a herd of fish. Their skin is transparent, revealing their skeleton and guts. Mabel starts swimming towards them. You point upwards, reminding her that you’ll have to refill your lungs with fresh air soon. She pouts and you roll your eyes. Fine, if she wants to drown and become one with the fish gang that’s none of your concerns. Suddenly you notice something, something that’s not a crystal, shimmering below you. You start swimming downwards but quickly realize that you need oxygen.

Swimming up towards the surface is for some reason way easier and you take a deep breath. Mabel soon joins you, breathing heavier than ever.

“That-”

She has to take a pause to breathe some more.

“Was awesome!”

“Yeah I saw you made some friends.”

You say through heavy breathing.

“Hey what’d you do? It looked like you were swimming towards something but then changed your mind.”

“Mabel I’m human, I needed air. But there was something down there shimmering.”

“Dipper everything down there was shimmering.”

“No it wasn’t like that, it wasn’t crystal.”

“Huh?”

“I’m going down again.”

“Dipper-”

Your sister’s voice dies out as you swim fast, you can’t run out of air this time.

The shimmering comes from one of the smaller tunnels. A pulsing blue light emerges from it, way different from the one coming from the crystals. The entrance is small and you have to push yourself through it, scraping your skin against the sharp rocky surfaces. This tunnel is way darker than the rest of the cave and the only thing visible is the source of the light. As fast as you enter it something starts ringing inside your head. You try to ignore it but the further in you swim the louder it gets. You have to keep on swimming, you need to find the source of the light. Just when you feel like your head is about to explode you reach it. The source of the light. A little black box.

 

△

 

“The glowing just stopped when I got out of the tunnel.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. It came from inside of this.”

“It looks like one of those nerdy puzzles you like playing with.”

“I guess you’re right.”

She is. It’s a strange box, engraved with strange symbols. Some parts of it are movable, exactly like a typical puzzlebox. From the look of it it’s really old

“Can I see?”

You hand Mabel the box. She turns it around in her wet hands and almost drops it.

“Careful!”

“Calm down Dipper, it’s made out of tree, right? Tree floats, remember?”

“I think it’s ebony, ebony doesn’t float.”

“Oh.”

She gives it back to you.

“Whether it’s ebony or not it’s still creepy and I think you should put it back.”

“Not a chance.”

“Seriously Dipper you have no idea what you’re dealing with. A black box buried in an underwater cave with a weird blue light coming out of it? Doesn’t sound like something you should be messing with.”

“You said it yourself Mabel, it looks like a puzzle and puzzles are made to be solved.”

“At what costs though? Someone hid it there for a reason.”

Why is she reacting like this? Shouldn’t she be excited over the fact that you found a really cool mysterious box in a really cool mysterious place?

“I’m keeping it.”

“Fineeeee.”

Her stomach growls.

“Since you’re not putting that thing back where it belongs and since I’m really hungry maybe we should get out of the water and go back to the shack?”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

You put the box in your backpack. It’s time to solve an ancient puzzle, but first, food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think you realize how much I wanted to name this chapter "waifu password"


	2. Ancient passwords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe catching up with the locals isn't as pleasant as Dipper would've hoped?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW THAT TOOK AN UNNECESSARY AMOUNT OF TIME TO UPDATE!! excuses?? oh I have plenty, the main one being my mental health lately so you sort of have to forgive me on this one hah hah hah..  
> but gosh golly the amount of amazing support and nice feedback I've gotten is unreal, you are all precious angels and I couldn't be more thankful!! ♥  
> with all of that said I hope you'll enjoy this ridiculously long chapter despite all of its poor jokes and bad references!!

“I don’t understand.”

You mutter to yourself. 24 sleepless hours have passed since you found the box and you still haven’t solved the puzzle. You’ve practically made a nest out of  a disturbing amount of dirty coffee mugs and mountains of books. You never would’ve guessed solving a puzzle box would include so much research. Everything was ridiculously simple until the lid of the box opened and revealed a wheel of letters. Password protected. Of course. Thankfully the mysterious creator of the box had chosen to leave a single clue. In the middle of the wheel was a word. Saligia.

So far you’ve  figured out the following facts: 7 letters. 5040 possible letter combinations. Translates to “chilly” in lithuanian. There’s a huge possibility all of that is totally irrelevant. Still you feel like you’ve heard it before, saligia, you just can’t place the stupid word. Your exhausted brain reacts to every little noise and when the door creaks open your heart skips a beat.

“Dipper? I got you some- OH MY GOD!”

“Mabel?”

“THIS IS LIKE NERD VANDALISM!”

“It’s just a little messy-”

“A LITTLE MESSY? ITS LIKE THE ALMIGHTY GOD OF ALL DORKS PUKED ALL OVER THIS ROOM!”

She turns on the lights and you almost hiss. Surprisingly Mabel has gotten more tidy than you over the years, all thanks to an incident with a glue gun and incredibly flammable fabric.

“Oh my god Dipper your eyebags have eyebags. Haven’t you slept at all since we got home?”

“It wasn’t that long ago.”

“It was like a day ago.”

“Rest my case.”

“You’re not human.”

She sighs and sits down on your bed, a huge cup of what you assume must be tea in her hands. You instantly

notice the little things indicating she’s been crafting, the messy ponytail, the faintly rolled up sleeves and the small stains of glitter and paint on her hands, arms and face.

“Dipper I wouldn’t usually say this but you’re seventeen, isn’t this a bit immature?”

“How is it immature? Anything could be in this box! It could be something big and life changing for not just me but for all of mankind!”

She raises her eyebrows at you. You have to admit that was probably an exaggeration. But there are so many possibilities, if she could just see that-

“It could also be something useless. Like a spoon. Are you ready to risk your health for a spoon Dipper?”

You groan.

“You need to sleep. It’s not like that stupid box is going anywhere, right?”

“I’ll sleep when I’m tired.”

“Dipper you’re shaking.”

She’s right, you are. For some strange reason you didn’t notice until she pointed it out.

“Whatever, if you’re gonna be a stubborn buttface about this I won’t interfere any further but don't say it didn't warn you when you break down like a priest at a sock opera.”

She’s about to leave when a pile of books suddenly collapses beside you, like someone threw something at it. You almost jump.

“Did you just throw a book at me?!”

“Why would I throw a book at you?!”

"Well then who made those books fall down?"

"Must have been the ghost", you say sarcastically with a laugh.

Mabel stares at you with wide eyes like she just realized some- oh no, did she take that seriously?

"A ghost! This is a sign! We have to investigate!"

You consider the possibility of it actually being some sort of sign. You guess it’s not impossible...

You look at the fallen books. None of them are in any way related to what you're doing, these are just some books you like to read when you're bored, some storybooks and stuff.

"Weird."

"What?"

" I didn't think I brought these books here with me."

 

You reach for the pile and pick up one of them. Mabel snatches it from your hands.

"Actually I’m NOT gonna leave you alone to waste away in insomnia misery! No more investigating until you've had some serious shut-eye!"

She's looking at you with a serious expression. You know there’s no negotiating with that face.

"Fi-ine, you win."

You sigh and crawl out of your nest and into your bed. The mysteries will have to wait, sadly. You fall asleep the second your head hits the pillow. Why does Mabel always have to be right.

 

△

 

“Wasn’t Dante that guy who went to hell?”

You and Mabel are sitting at the breakfast table, the pile of books from yesterday spread out in front of you on the wooden surface. Right now you're holding one titled The Divine Comedy by Dante

, trying your best to summarize it for Mabel, like you've been doing with the previous 10 books  that lay discarded in a pile at the end of the table.  
  
After all  surrendering and going to sleep was a great idea. Just like Mabel told you the box didn’t go anywhere, and after a good night sleep with pleasant dreams your mind works excellently without coffee to keep it going.

 

“Yeah, well, he travels through the the realms of the afterlife, hell, purgatory and heaven.”

“No dudes, Dante was the guy who played Rufio.”

“Rufiwho?”

You and Mabel say at the exact same time. All three of you stare silently at each other for about three seconds before Soos starts laughing. He more than happily joined your extremely late breakfast, despite his shack duties. Even though microwaved pancakes might not be the tastiest thing in the world it’s still pretty damn amazing when all you’ve been living on for the past days is coffee.

“Creepy twin moment, I love it.”

You balance the book in your hands. It’s a worn out pocket book, thick but light, pages almost falling out. You bought it in a second hand store ages ago. Just some simple reading for a regular thirteen year old. Not nerdy at all.  

“Honestly though I doubt this is relevant in any way. It’s just a dumb coincident.”

Mabel had been on your case all morning about how the pile of books falling must have been some magical clue, or some sort of mystical force showing you the way. Sure, unnatural stuff happen all the time in Gravity Falls but this just sounds a bit far fetched, even for you.

You sigh. Even if it wasn’t a coincidence it’d be stupid to assume some guy made a complicated puzzle box   
based off a book written by a medieval poet.

“Hey Soos do you know what saligia means?”

“It's what comes out when you spit dude, I thought you knew that. It’s like basic humaning.”

“Soos is right, it does sound like saliva. Have you tried licking the box?”

“No of course not!”

“Want me to lick it for you?”

“No one is licking the box!”

“Fine if you say so.”

You grab the box out of Mabels hands as she slowly moves it towards her mouth. She laughs and Soos joins her. Great. Why does it always come down to this, no one taking you seriously.  

“I’m being serious guys, come on.”

“No Dipper you’re being really uptight.”

“She’s got a point dude. You should relax and have some fun with your bros.”

“Exactly.”  
“This is fun! Sorta...”  
Mabel and Soos look at each other skeptically.   
“Nope it’s getting nerdy and boring.”  
Soos nods.  
“Sorry dude.”

You hesitate for what feels like a long while before putting the box and book on the floor.

”Fine.”

Mabel and Soos cheer and you fail trying not to smile. Maybe putting your mind off things will help in the long run. Maybe.

 

△

 

Mabel stands up drastically, shocking both you and Soos, a determined and excited look on her face. You’ve been sitting on the floor among scattered pieces of different board games, trying to figure out what activity you should do next, (without making any progress for a while now) and it’s starting to get a bit boring. Playing games with Soos and Mabel can only entertain you for so long, especially when your sister just wiped the floor with you at monopoly. Plus, no matter how hard you try, your mind keeps slipping away to thoughts about the box. You even catch yourself staring longingly at it during several occasions.

“I know!”

“Huh?”

“Let’s catch up with Wendy!”

“Yeah!”

That came out a bit too enthusiastically. You clear your throat.

“Yeah, good idea Mabel.”

Your crush on Wendy died ages ago and you’re way more mature now. Right? Mabel scoffs.

“Oh Dipper. Five years and you’re still into her. Too bad she’s taken.”

Your whole face heats up.

”I’m not into her!”

She’s about to protest when Soos reaches you his phone.

“You dudes don’t have her number, right?”

“Whoa thanks Soos!”

Mabel grabs the phone out of your hands and presses the dial button. She bounces a bit on her toes as she waits for Wendy to pick up. Then her eyes light up like stars.

“Hello! Nope it’s Mabel!”

She giggles.

”Yeah! We’re back in Gravity Falls.”

She pauses for a bit.

“Hey me and Dipper were wondering if you were free anytime soon? It’d be awesome if we could meet up.”

She just listens for a while.

“Really? That’s great! Okay we’ll be there!”

She hangs up and smiles widely.

“That was a short call, what’d she say?”

“Well she’s on duty now-”

“Duty?”

“Yeah but she has lunch break in like an hour and she said there was this great BBQ diner a bit outside of town. Oh and she said they serve great sundaes as well!”

Considering the heat ice cream is more than tempting.

“That’s perfect!”

“Hey Soos, you in?”

“Sorry dudes I have some stuff to fix here in the shack.”

“Awh.”

Mabel pouts a bit with her lips before letting it go.

“Hey Dipper maybe we could go to straight away? Just catching up with the townsfolk?”

“Yeah sure, I don’t see why not. It's not like we have anything to do back here anyway..”

You glance back at the box on the floor one last time before finally deciding with a shrug that it can wait a few more hours.

“Okay then, let’s go!”

”Maybe we should change out of our PJs first sis.”

Your smile must be pretty smug because Mabel almost glares back at you.

”Okay then, let’s change out of our PJs and then let’s go!”

 

 △

 

After arguing for about five minutes over who would get to drive (Mabel), and after Mabel stopping the car in the middle of the road to pet a cat (despite your loud protests), you finally reach the town. You exit the car and stretch your arms towards the summer sky. Mabel wrinkles her nose when your back makes a crackling noise.

“Do you have to do that?”

You smirk and raise your eyebrows.

“Do what?”

You do it again and she slaps your shoulder. Hard. Why does Mabel have to be so strong? She locks the car and walks away from you with big steps. You have to jog to keep up.

“What exactly did you mean with “catching up with the townsfolk” anyways?”

Mabel stops and stares into the distance.

“I honestly just want to find Toby and laugh at the huge mistake called his life.”

You had totally forgotten that horrible ugly little man.

“Good idea.”

You keep on walking, aimlessly without a goal. Suddenly you reach the mall. By the looks of it it has changed a lot over the past years and for some strange reason it sort of stings. Then again, so have you. Probably. You hope.

”Wanna go inside?”

It’s a stupid question because you are both obviously walking towards the entrance.

”Hey do you think this place has changed since we were here last?”

“Well duh, it’s a shopping center Dipper not a museum.”  

You raise your shoulders.

”I guess you’re right. It just feel so weird you know?”

”Hey don’t be be like that. I bet the changes aren’t that drastic.”

Mabel’s prediction is as wrong as it could get because when you walk into the little mall you’re faced with something you never would’ve imagined. The place is dinosaur themed. From the stores with ridiculous names to the huge plastic statues of dinosaurs scattered about the whole area. Enormous plants clog the remaining space, giving it the feeling of a prehistoric jungle. Both of your jaws drop, and you get the feeling you look like you're in a silly cartoon for kids.  You’re both too stunned to say anything. Then Mabel breaks out in laughter and you join her instantly. She points at one of the stores. Some kind of restaurant.

”Jurassic Pork?!”

You point at another. A café.

”What about Tea-Rex over there?”

You laugh hysterically  for another minute before Mabel abruptly stops, grabs your arm, drags to the nearest gang of plastic dinosaurs, and ducks down behind them.

“Duck!”

“Huh?”

You just stare at your sister in confusion.

“Duck Dipper you big doofus.”

You duck. What the hell is going on.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Don’t freak out, but look over there.”

It’s hard to see exactly what Mabel is pointing at with all the plants and dinosaurs in the way. Not to talk about the huge amount of people walking around the mall like it was the most normal thing they could do. Your best guess, however, is a rather tall girl with blonde hair.

“That blonde girl?”

“Yeah!”

“So?”

“So?! It’s Pacifica! ”

She’s right, it sort of looks like Pacifica.

“We’re hiding behind some plastic dinosaurs because of Pacifica?”

“Of course we are!”

“Okay Mabel sure, Pacifica may be one of the most horrible monsters in existence but she’s definitely not worth murdering my arm in an attempt to try to hide from her.”

“No Dipper think. Pacifica is rich, what would she do in a mall like this?!”

Mabel gently pats the one of the dinosaurs.

“No offense mall.”

“I see your point. The fact that she’s alone makes it even more shady.”

“Yeah! Something is definitely up, I can almost smell it.”

“Okay so what’s the plan, we spy on her?”

You scoff.

“That is exactly the plan! We shadow her until we figure out what wicked things she’s up to.”

You sigh in resignation,  guessing this could be fun, and it's probably exactly what you need to throw you out of your puzzle solving loop.

“Any ideas?”

You look over to Mabel, who has formed a pair of binoculars with her hands and is staring at Pacifica. You smile.

“Maybe she’s looking for a voodoo doll for a girl with prettier hair than her.”

“Or she’s gathering baby souls to devour for eternal youth.”

“Both of those are possible objectives.”

“Agreed.”   
  


This is probably one of the most immature things you’ve done in a really long time. But the nostalgic feeling you desperately longed for is back and you couldn’t be more happy. You just have to keep track of the time to not miss the lunch with Wendy. Of course that’s priority one. Priority two is discovering Pacifica’s evil plans in this jungle of dino-stores.

You quietly sneak across the mall and now you’re only feet away from the horrific creature in the form of a teenage girl. You can almost smell her overly expensive perfume. Her body language confirms she’s up to something suspicious. Standing there, between ”Dino Sir” and ”Try Sara’s Tops”, she looks like the definition of uneasy. You and Mabel share wide eyed expressions as she puts on a pair of white framed sunglasses. She enters what seems to be a small bank. You both decide with quick gestures not to follow her into the bank, it’s not crowded enough to blend in and the last thing you want to do is get caught for something as stupid as spying on a rich girl in a mall full of plastic dinosaurs. So you just wait outside of the bank, doing your best to eavesdrop. Sadly you’re too far away and all you can hear is mumbling. After about five minutes of talking  to a bunch of people in fancy clothing, Pacifica signs a bunch of documents and shakes hand with a really odd looking mad in an odd looking suit.

“Reversed Robin Hood. Steal from the poor give to the rich.”

You whisper. Mabel nods.   
Pacifica is about to leave the bank when you catch something moving in your periphery. Something out of the ordinary. You whip your head around to find nothing there,  but it seems to have come from a mirror in the neighbour store. You walk up to it without hesitation. Staring back at you is your own reflection, nothing strange about it. But you were so certain  you saw.. well, it was probably just a trick of light. You sigh.

You’re about to leave when you see something flash behind you in the mirror. You

turn around only to be faced with the people and plastic creatures of the mall. No living monsters in sight. The shop itself is completely empty except for you, a single shop worker and what seems to be a janitor, but they’re both too busy talking to even take notice of you.

“The clocks just won’t start working.”

“They all stopped at seven o’clock?”

“Yes all of them, even the one on the computer! Do you think you can you fix it?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Dipper! What are you doing?!”

Mabel mouths at you. You learned to read each others lips at a pretty early age. It’s weird though, you totally forgot about the whole finding-out-what-Pacifica-Northwest-is-up-to mission  after seeing, or rather, not seeing, that thing in the mirror. Mabel starts walking towards you but suddenly falls as she collides with someone. None other than the suspect herself. Pacifica. Shit. Busted. It happened so quickly and with such a force that your poor sister ends up trapped under the blonde monster. Ironically enough it looks exactly like a moment in a romantic movie where the two lead characters meet for the first time by bumping into each other in a ridiculously romantic position. On the floor next to them is Pacifica’s sunglasses.

“Whoopsi daisy.”

Mabel says automatically in a high pitched voice. Both of their eyes widen and Pacifica stutters back, with furrowed brows.

“Ma- Mabel?”

They stay  like that for about five seconds, just sort of staring at each other. A lot of people have stopped to observe the cliché scene, which apparently is way more interesting than the shopping centre itself. Pacifica swiftly get on her feet despite her stupidly high heels, her face turning scarlet in an instant. Mabel sits up and pick up the sunglasses. She hands them to Pacifica who gives her a hand to get up.

“I- I’m so sorry!”

The hostility is more shocking than the situation itself. Mabel just smiles back at the flustered girl.

“It’s okay, I’m fine!”

She’s still holding on to Mabel’s hand and you’re getting a bit annoyed by it. Scratch that, extremely annoyed by it.

“Mabel can you promise me not to tell any of your loser friends you saw me here?”

Pacifica looks desperate, almost pleading. You scoff a little, Mabel definitely has her around her finger now. But then Mabel’s expression turns serious. Oh no. What the hell is happening?

“I promise.”

She wrinkles her nose.

“If you promise not to call them losers again because they’re really not.”

Pacifica rolls her eyes.

“Fine.”

Mabel’s innocent hand is still in Pacifica’s dirty claws. You walk up to them and clear your throat. She quickly lets go of Mabel, giving you an icy glare as she awkwardly fumbles with her hands. You return the favour.

”Mabel we should go now, I don’t want to keep Wendy waiting.”

”Oh. You’re here.”

“Wow you’re right! Those are some amazing observation skills, really! How much did they cost?”

Mabel laughs awkwardly.

“Yeah Dipper you’re right, we should probably go.”

Pacifica is looking at Mabel again now. Her icy glare wiped away in an instant.  

”Hey Mabel could you tell your brother not to tell any of his friends either?”

She smirks and looks at you again.

”Oh wait, never mind. I forgot he doesn’t have any.”

“That’s a lot coming from a person who probably buys all of her friends on some million dollar auction-”

Mabel puts both of her hands over your mouth.

”See you around Pacifica!”

The evil creature turns around and waves at you. You grit your teeth.

“Seeya.”

 

△

 

The drive to the diner starts out with a pretty damn awkward silence. Thankfully, since you’re the one driving, you can just do your best to ignore the silence and focus on the road. Your sister on the other hand? She’ll speak any second now. Any seco-  
“So uhm.”  
“Huh?”  
“Was it just me or did Pacifica look like a supermodel.”  
You laugh a short dry laugh.  
“Yeah if murdering supermodels and wearing their skin qualifies as being a supermodel then yes! Absolutely!”  
“I’m being serious! I mean did you even see her?”  
“No of course I didn’t. Because that’s the point of shadowing a person. Not following them and observing everything they do. Obviously.”  
Mabel groans.  
“No Dipper you don’t understand, not like that.”  
“Then like what? Like checking her out?”  
Mabel completely ignores your question. If she is planning to set you up with that monster by planting false ideas into your head then she’s doomed to fail. There’s nothing good about Pacifica.  
“I mean her eyes! They were like sparkling! And her legs?! Damn! And her hair is perfect!  Actually when I think about her everything is perfect.”  
You sigh heavily.  
“Whatever you’re trying to do it’s not working.”  
Mabel looks down at her hands.  
“And her hands were so soft.”  
She brings them up to her face.  
“And they smelled like lavender.”  
She says in a whisper.   
“I don’t care if she smells like puppies and rainbows-”  
“She probably does.”  
You moan.  
“What I’m trying to say is none of that matters. She’s an awful person who’s obviously up to awful stuff and no matter how “damn” her legs are it still doesn’t make up for how nasty she is.”  
“But you don’t know that for sure. I bet she’s not that bad if you get to know her!”  
“Mabel. She called Candy and Grenda losers.”  
“She promised she’d stop.”  
“Yeah because she didn’t want you to tell anyone what shitty stuff she’s up to. It just proves the point, Pacifica Northwest is living up to the snobby rich girl stereotype and no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise that fact remains. She’s horrible and I'm not interested.”  
“Geez Dipper why do you always have to be so negative and judging?”  
“I’m not. I’m being logical and you’re being naive.”  
“Nuh uh. You’re taking this way too far.”

You don't have to look at her to know shes starting to become really upset, you can hear it in her voice. So you keep looking at the road.  
“No Mabel listen. I just want you to realize there isn’t good in everyone. Some people are just horrible and you obviously need help realizing that.”  
“Oh really?! You don’t think I can trust my own judgement?! I’m not going to apologize for complimenting a person you don’t like.”  
“There’s a reason I don’t like her. She did really mean things to you.”  
“We were kids.”  
You roll your eyes. As much as it hurts to admit it she sort of has a point. Sort of.  
“I just don’t understand why your opinion changed so suddenly. We just met her again and she doesn't seem to have changed one bit. It makes no sense that you're on her side.”  
The silence is back and this time you’re pretty sure Mabel won’t break it.

  
△

  
You arrive at the diner just on time. The tension between you and Mabel is still there.Well if she can hold a grudge so can you, and you're not gonna lose this one. The diner is nice, the furniture is made out of dark wood and old pictures in worn out golden frames cover the majority of the walls, except for one that is completely covered by a huge, old looking map of Gravity Falls. It’s at a table by that map you find Wendy. Her freckled face lights up like a sun as she spots you, and it wipes away all of your previous frustration towards snobby blonde girls and unsolvable puzzle boxes.

“Hey guys!”

She stands up and walks towards you, leaving what looks like a meal of ribs at the table. She starts with embracing Mabel, who is smiling so hard you’re sure her face will stop working if it continues, in a genuine hug. She then hugs you as well. It’s nice, you’ve been talking a lot online but never really found the time to meet up in real life.

“Man it’s good to see you guys.”

“Same! I’ve missed you so much!”

Mabel chirps. You nod.

“Yeah me too! I mean it’s been five years since we met like this.”

“Five?!”

Wendy’s eyes widen a little. It’s weird, Wendy’s short hair and grown up appearance shouldn’t surprise you, but for some reason it does.

“Yeah almost exactly.”

You all sit down at the table, a huge gap between you and Mabel.

“Damn. Well you have no idea how happy I got when you called, you should’ve told me earlier that you guys were in Gravity Falls.”

“It sort of came as a surprise to us as well. That we were going here for the summer that is.”  
Mabel nods. She's completely focused on Wendy and whenever you talk she just stares down at the table, with a sour look on her face.  
“We would’ve told you if it weren’t for how busy we’ve been.”  
“Really? So what have you kids been up to?”  
You contemplate for a second if you should really tell Wendy about what has been going on. You instantly realize how stupid that thought is, this is Wendy, you’d trust her with your life. Plus, this isn’t exactly a huge dangerous secret.  
“The other day I found this underwater cave in the forest.”  
“Seriously?”  
“We went to explore it and Dipper found this weird puzzle box.”  
“What was inside?”  
“I haven’t cracked it yet. It’s password protected. The only lead I have is a single word that makes no sense at all.”  
“Wow that sucks man. But no paranormal stuff?”  
“Nope.”  
You sigh. Sure, you’ve only been here for a few days but not encountering any monsters or great mysteries is sort of a bummer. Except that stupid box.   
“Uh yeah we have!”  
Mabel sounds almost offended.  
“There’s an invisible book obsessed ghost in Dipper’s room.”  
Wendy laughs.  
“Awesome. You should follow me out on a shift, if you knew about all the crazy shit I’ve seen, you'd go insane.”  
“Wait, shift?”  
“Hold on, Dipper, I never told you?”  
Mabel smirks a little.   
“Dude I work as a part time forest ranger.”  
You mentally facepalm. It’s so obvious, she’s wearing a uniform and there’s even one of those hats on the table next to her, how could  you not notice? It sort of stings that she told Mabel but not you, and Mabel’s smirk isn’t exactly making it any better. You do your best ignore your childish feelings of envy.  
“Wow that’s really cool! But wait, don’t you have college?”  
“That’s why it’s part time, I only work when I’m home which isn’t that often. It’s still a really great way to earn money, me and some friends are saving up for a Europe roadtrip. But haven’t you done some paranormal stuff back in California?”  
You have, but it’s not even comparable to the things you’ve encountered in Gravity Falls.   
“Yeah we’ve helped people with some hauntings and spiritual possession but it’s mostly that.”   
“It’s pretty damn awesome though! ”  
You laugh a little and scratch your neck.  
“Yeah I guess.”  
“Not to brag but we’re pretty much the most skilled ghostbusters you’ll ever meet, right Dip-”  
Mabel’s about to nudge you with her elbow but realizes what she’s doing halfway through and stops. A crease appears between Wendy’s eyebrows.  
“Hey are you guys-”  
“So are you kids ready to order?”  
A middle age woman stands at your table, a little notebook in her hands. She wears a nice and gentle expression on her face.

“Do you have any desserts?”  
Mabel’s sweet tooth is showing. You sort of feel the same way though, you didn’t eat breakfast

long ago so eating lunch isn’t really tempting.  
“Oh you guys should totally try the sundaes, they’re great.”  
The woman laughs and Mabel nods.   
“I could definitely go for a sundae!”  
She scribbles something down on the notebook and smiles.  
“One sundae! So what about you, sir?”  
She’s looking at you now.   
“I uhm-”  
Voice crack. Fuck. You clear your throat.  
“I’ll have a sundae as well.”  
That came out in a way too deep voice. Why does this always happen with new people? And when Wendy is around? But the woman just smiles and carries on, despite Mabel’s obvious attempt to not giggle.  
“Alrighty, two sundaes coming up!”  
She chuckles a little as she walks away.  
“She seems nice!”  
“Yeah Mrs. Anderson is great, she and her husband owns the diner, sort of old friends of the family. I always eat here between shifts. It’s a great place to eat at, unless you’re really into dinosaurs.”  
“Oh right the shopping centre, what the hell is up with that?”  
“Awh man it’s a pretty tragic story. Our mayor got this big dinosaur obsession after watching the latest Jurassic Park movie so he started this project called “dinosaur week”. The whole thing failed and the government ended up bankrupt with a bunch of plastic dinosaurs. People got pretty mad so they decided to sell the dinosaurs to the mall and now it’s sort a tourist attraction I guess? It even beats the Mystery Shack when it comes to crappy tourist traps. No offense.”  
“None taken.”

You laugh a little.  
“Wait the mayor, that old guy?”  
“Nah he died, we got a new one and he’s a huge weirdo. There’s rumours he has a pet buffalo but since no one talks to him it’s not really confirmed. What’s even weirder is that he got re-elected. I guess people just don’t care about politics anymore, I honestly don’t blame them.”  
She’s back to eating her ribs now. She looks up at the ceiling with a serious expression on her face.  
“Politics suck.”

Both you and Mabel laugh.

“The ironic thing is that there are actual dinosaurs in Gravity Falls.”  
“Holy shit really?”  
“Uh huh, we sort of destroyed the only way to reach them though.”  
“Damn.”  
Mabel gasps.  
“Wendy what’s that on your hand?!”  
“Huh? Oh you mean this? It’s called menhndi. It’s sort of a temporary tattoo made out of henna I guess? It’s pretty traditional but my girlfriend needed to practise for her cousins wedding.”  
Right. Wendy has a girlfriend. Right. Mabel grabs Wendy’s hand and brings it up to her face for closer inspection.   
“It’s beautiful!”  
The tattoo really is beautiful, the flowery pattern reminds you of lace.

“Your girlfriend is talented!”  
“She sure is. I miss her a lot, this thing is sort of reassuring.”  
“Wait how long have you guys been apart?”  
“Not that long yet but she’s spending the whole summer in India.”  
“Awh man that sucks.”  
Wendy laughs.  
“Yeah. Not to sound like a total creep but are you guys dating anyone at the moment?”  
Mabel shakes her head.   
“Nah not exactly.”  
She raises her eyebrows.  
“ No one is as single as Dipper though, not even my matchmaking skills are strong enough to pair him up with anyone. His only hope is some sort of love potion.”  
Does she have to take this out on you? Now? In front of Wendy? You moan.   
“Shut up Mabel.”  
Wendy scoffs.  
“Don’t worry Dipper, you’re a cool dude, people would be super lucky to date you.”  
Mabel sighs over dramatically.  
“More false hope.”  
Can’t she just stop?  
“Holy shit Mabel cut it out.”  
She just smirks at you and even though your instincts scream “tickle her”  you decide to just remain still and silent. Giving in would mean totally giving up on this fight. Your pride will not allow you to do that. You sense someone standing behind you and turn your head.  
“Here are your sundaes!”

 

△

 

The ride home is completely silent. A huge knot has been forming in your stomach and you convince yourself that you don’t deserve it. You did nothing wrong, the things you said were logical and if Mabel decides to be offended by them that’s her problem. You spend the rest of the day alone in your room with your laptop and the box.   
For what feels like the hundredth time you google the word that has been carved into your conscious mind. Saligia. It’s like it haunts you. “Did you mean: _saliva_ ”. You sigh.

“Gee thanks google that’s exactly what I needed. I can’t believe even the search engine is telling me to spit on the stupid thing.”

You gotta stop talking to yourself aloud. It’s almost as bad as singing icelandic pop music whenever you think you’re alone. But what if it, despite how unintellegent it sounds, is some sort of typo? What if it actually has something to do with saliva? You feel like you’re losing brain cells just considering the fact. Despite it all you decide to do it. You decide to lick the box.

“Blegh.”  
It tastes horrible. It was a horrible idea. What did you even think would happen? You blame everything on Soos, Mabel and your new best pal, Google.   

After a few hours your tired brain gives up on password solving and you allow yourself to let go and procrastinate for the rest of the night. When you finally decide to go to sleep you don’t feel physically tired. At all. Being in a fight with Mabel always sucks. And it’s always pretty much unbearable. You wish you could just turn your thoughts off. Turn your emotions off. But you can’t. If there only was some ancient potion to dissolve undeserved guilt feelings.  
You’re just about to  fall asleep when something plings. Your phone. You reach for it on your nightstand. Maybe it’s an apology from Mabel. To your “great surprise” it’s not. It’s just some spam mails that somehow got into your inbox. “Numerology, make it count!”,  “Seven Easy Steps to Become a Respected Member of Society” and “free latin courses today! vestri 'nunquam questus posita!”. You delete all of the stupid annoying spam and sigh. Another pling. “Net dating for lonely losers without lives ;)”. Wow. Thanks universe. This day was a pleasure. Truly.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pfhhhhht and you thought this was a billdip fic  
> well at least you got plenty of buildup *badum tshhhhhh*  
> joking aside I want to give a special super mega thanks to my best friend for helping me with the editing, you are a star child klara and I love you so very much ♥  
> and thank you dear reader for your patience and support ♥
> 
> a little sidenote: as you might've noticed pacifica and dipper's relationship is *cough cough* not so friendly. this is due the fact that I did a lot of plotting and planning of major events before northwest mansion mystery came out so for the sake of a lazy horrible writer please pretend that episode never happened. ever. thanks.


	3. A forest full of rocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Night terrors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoa a new chapter!! and this time it didn't take forever!! thanks again to everyone for the support, I know I keep repeating this but it means so much to me and the thought that there are people who like my writing still feels so unreal!! so here are some well deserved hearts for you ♥♥♥ 
> 
> IMPORTANT!!!  
> this chapter contains abuse and violence, so please don't read it if this is harmful to you in any way!! if you still want to read but feel like skipping the worst part then it starts at "you got really far kid" and ends at "hurts so fucking much". take care of yourself and stay away from things that might cause you harm!! ♥

You stumble through the forest. Run run run run. You trip on your own feet, running through the Gravity Falls forest is way harder with an awkward teenage body. This is one of the situations you wish you were twelve again. Everything is wrong. Everything is so wrong.

The sharp rocks feel like ragged glass against your feet, and you know you’re bleeding like crazy. It’s like some fucked up Hansel and Gretel tale where they replaced the breadcrumbs with blood stains. You trip and scrape your hands and knees. The impact sends a burst of pain through your entire body. You swallow a groan and get up again.You want to scream but you have to keep quiet. Since when was the forest full of sharp rocks? Run. Run. Run. Even though every step you take hurts.

In your periphery you can spot the trees staring back at you. Literally staring. They’ve got eyes, watching every step you take. Laughter echoes through the forest, wicked and cruel. If you stop, if you let it catch up, it will hurt you. Not just kill you, hurt you, and the thought of that is way more terrifying. The laugh drains out all of your thoughts making it difficult to navigate the forest.

Suddenly something snares around your leg, a root, and you fall and hit your head against the rocky ground making the world spin around you. You try to get up but roots are twirling around your limbs, pinning you down. You're screwed, so screwed.

Your heart is throbbing harder and faster every second. Calm steps makes the ground thump against your head.The adrenaline released by your body is making all of your senses sharper and instead of closing out the pain it just makes it worse. The laughter gets louder. Then it stops. Slow clapping. Really? The roots around you become loose and a magic force lifts you up, spins you around and drops you midair making you hit the ground hard. You let out a pained noise.

“You got really far kid. I have to admit, I’m impressed.”

The laughter, the voice, it's all so familiar but you can't place it. A faded memory, like the name of a long lost childhood friend, just beyond your reach. This person is not friendly though. Quite the opposite.

“Oh this is so satisfying, ya’ know you’re probably one of my favourite toys.”

A cane appears in his hands and puts the end of it on your chest and leans on it. After a short while his weight breaks one of your ribs and you scream out in pain.

“Woopsies. “

Still leaning against the cane he stretches out his unnaturally long fingers and stares at them with a nonchalant expression on his face. They're coal black with pointy ends. Claws?

“What do you think about my human form?”

Human form? He smiles down at you with a sinister expression. His eyes wide open and cat like, glowing blue in the darkness. He’s tall and lean, wearing fancy attire. His skin is ombré, going from coal black to pale white and for a second you’re certain you can make out a pyramid pattern where the black meets the white. If his features would be more human he’d look attractive. That thought doesn’t cross your mind though. He’s terrifying. As far from human as you could get.

“Awesome.”

Your voice is weak and stuttery. The cane is pressing against one of your lungs and you get the feeling you’ll start coughing up blood any second now. The taste of iron indicates that your predictions were right. You cough and cough. Suddenly the cane disappears with a poof and he sits down on top of you. You feel so small compared to him, his weight pressing down on you making it even harder to breath. Well you ARE small compared to him, length wise that is . He puts his hands on your shoulders and presses you down, like that was even needed. Your chest hurts so fucking much.

“At least I didn’t ruin your cute little face. Oh wait-”

He spots a cut on your cheek you probably got from tripping. Crap.

“Oh noooo.”

He fakes a concerned look. The cut stings as he slowly licks it. You moan.

“Mmmm tasty.”

You make a grimace.You start feeling more and more... distant? His expression changes.

“Oh no don’t you dare die on me, we just started having fun.”

An electrical pulse goes through your body and your consciousness is back. You’ve been doing your best trying not to cry  but you can feel the stony muddy ground turning into goo around you and you realized you’ve failed completely. It hurts so much. A sob escapes your lips. Crap.

“Come on don’t hold back pine tree.”

You have to act strong but the pain is unbearable and you’re terrified. You cough up more blood. Everything tastes and smells like iron. Can’t he just kill you? No. Wait. You can’t die. Mabel. You can’t leave Mabel. Think Dipper. What happened before this? But your memory before the chase is completely blank. It just suddenly happened like in a dream. A dream. Of course! Obviously! Then something clicks. Your whole body freezes. Bill. Oh god it's Bill.

Realizing this is a dream makes everything easier though, you're in control now. The weight on your body eases as you force him off of you with pure willpower and you get filled with hope. But then he lands on you with a big thump making you cough up what feels like a fountain of blood. Your heart sinks. Too weak. Shit.

“Nice try puppet”.

He smirks down at you. You try to glare back at him. Moving any muscle is a struggle. Wake up. You need to wake up.

What could you possibly do though. Maybe you could- no bad plan. Is it worth a try? Probably not. But this guy is desperate. And this guy can’t give up on his sister.

So you let out everything, the sobs, the shaking, everything you held in to act stronger. All of the things you’d never let yourself do with anyone around. Ever. You cough over and over again. Breathing is so difficult.

“Bill.”

You manage to utter through your coughing.

“Please.”

What happens next surprises you. His expression  changes completely.  His eyes flicker and for a millisecond you're sure you could spot something unnatural in them. Compassion?

“No. NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!”

He growls as his claws puncture your skin. The feeling of falling in a dream wakes you up. All of your senses come to life as you enter the real world. The real world where all the pain is gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what an adorable introduction don't you think?? are your cuddly fluffy shipping feelings overwhelming you?? I bet they are. I also bet this was the first time in the history of fiction someone used the "and it was "only" a dream" ending, props to me for being so original and special.
> 
> joking aside I want to make it perfectly clear that I don't support this type of relationship in real life what so ever. this is a work of fiction which is important to keep in mind. abusive and toxic relationship are not healthy and should be avoided at all costs unless they're completely consent (which they usually aren't). so stay safe and love yourself.
> 
> yeah alright I'm done with my rant, thanks for reading!! ♥


	4. Seven letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter what, don't fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fine piece of work was brought to you by my poor sleep deprived brain, please enjoy.

Just  a dream. It was just a dream. You cough but no blood comes up. Only a ghost of the pain is left. Just a dream. Nothing more. Your face is wet, you’ve been crying in your sleep. It all felt so real. Ironically enough you woke up exhausted, but going back to sleep is the last thing you would even think of doing. What’s the time anyways? You squint as the screen of your phone lights up.  Seven past three. AM.  
  
That sinister inhuman smile and those glowing eyes come alive every time you close your eyes for too long. So you have to force yourself to keep them open, despite how ridiculously heavy your eyelids feel. Staying in bed isn’t an option, keeping yourself occupied has to be the top priority. His laugh still echoes on repeat in your head so you grab your headphones, put on some alternative rock and turn the volume up to the loudest setting. The loud music makes your whole head throb but that doesn’t really concern you. It drowns out the inhuman laughter. Occupations occupations occupations. Maybe a book? No, your thoughts will definitely drift off too easily. What about a movie? You’ll probably lose focus straight away. The puzzle box. In your periphery you spot it, just waiting to be solved.  The perfect occupation. But first, coffee.  
  
As quietly as possible you walk down to the kitchen. Even though both Mabel and Stan are pretty heavy sleepers you don’t want to accidentally wake either of them up. Oh caffeine, your best friend in the whole wide world. How did you ever survive without it? You bring the whole coffee pot up to your room, unnecessary trips to the kitchen isn’t on your no-sleep-what-so-ever schedule.

It takes about four minutes to find your previous notes, there’s this constant dizziness in your body making you feel slightly disoriented. In a drawer you find one of your favourite pens, for some reason you still prefer writing on paper, at least when it comes to important things. There’s a security in being able to hide all of your thoughts and ideas from the world. Having your notes as physical objects keeps away the fear of some stranger finding them without your allowance. This is obviously not paranoia, just safety measures.   
  
“Determining the age of the box would definitely be helpful. The first actual clue would be the alphabet used. The latin alphabet. It dates back to the 7th century BC, however, the letter W wasn’t officially added to the alphabet until around 1300 AD. So since the wheel does contain that letter it would make sense for it to be at most around 700 years old. That is probably not the case though.   
Then there’s the origin. From my own judgement I'd guess this box wasn’t made in the states, but  brought here. So it’s likely to have european origins, this because of the alphabet which was almost solely used there.  If this is correct then the password has to be in a european language.”  
You sigh and pick up another separate paper, on which you’ve written Saligia in capital letters. “What does it mean? A word? A signature? An acronym?  An anagram? Is it even relevant to the password?”  
  
No origin. No clues. Nothing. Just a combination of seven stupid letters. The determination to crack the puzzle is still growing, but so is the frustration. No matter what you’re going to open this dumb box. The thought of somehow opening it by force has of course crossed your mind, but you’ve always done your best to push it aside. This is a job for your brain, not your muscles. Having it any other way would be totally against your pride. You check another one of your notes, an extremely long list with all of the words and letter combinations you’ve already tried out. At the base of the paper you’ve written down the latin alphabet, followed by all of the ciphers you know, just in case the word was some kind of code. Just as in coding it’s all about finding some kind of pattern or connection, even though you have so little to go on. Trying to figure out the most plausible topics judging by the few facts you actually have. The first password theory was that it somehow evolved around Pandora’s box. Looking back at it you have to admit it was a pretty silly and childish idea, but for some reason it felt right at the time. “Surprisingly”  none of the characters, objects or places involved in the tale ended up opening the box. Your second theory was that the password was some kind anagram for saligia. You only tried out around six hundred letter combination before moving on, at least temporarily. It’s still a possibility, even though it’s the most boring thing to work on. The third one would be that the password has some kind of connection to Christianity. In old time Europe religion was extremely important to the majority of the population and inspired many fine crafts. But no luck. So far. Then there’s the fourth theory, the most plausible and definitely the trickiest one. That the password has some sort of connection to the previous owner.  
  
You yawn and fear instantly hits you like an electric shock. No. You are not falling asleep. That will not happen. No way. Bits of coffee granules get stuck in your throat as you swallow the remaining coffee. The stairs creak as you run down to the kitchen to make more. Can’t fall asleep. Gotta stay awake at all costs. It feels like you’re setting your throat on fire as you gulp down the steaming hot liquid. Stay awake stay awake stay awake. Clearly distracting yourself isn’t enough. What else can you do? Think think think. When you walk past the bathroom, the door wide open, an idea hits you. An ice cold shower. That’ll help. Probably. Maybe. The worry of waking Mabel or Stan is completely gone, the only thing on your mind is the desperate will to stay awake. You put the coffee pot aside, throw off all of your clothes and step into the bathtub. Alright. You take a deep breath. The feeling of regret hits you at the same time as the water.   
“Holy shit fuck god damn fuck fuck fuck-”  
Self control Dipper. Self control. Don’t be a wimp. Stay in the shower. After what feels like an eternity of self torture you end up laughing awkwardly to yourself.  
“This is actually not that bad.”  
Wide awake, alright, nice job. This will definitely be a long long day.  
  
                                                                                                            △

  
The stairs creak, followed by the sounds of the TV coming to life. It startles you a little. The rays of the morning sun shine through your window, filling the room with long shadows. Your stomach growls, begging for breakfast. Isn’t it a bit early for your sister or grand uncle to be awake? The time on your phone says 07.06 AM. Friday 7 July. A smile covers your face  as you remember what year it is. 2017. You gotta tell Mabel before another minute passes. Hopefully she’s the one in front of the TV. You jog down the stairs. To your luck it is your sister.   
“Mabel look at the ti-”  
It’s like the whole room becomes ice cold as Mabel notices your presence. Her full focus is on the TV screen as she turns the volume up. At first you get confused, why would she act like this? It’s really uncharacteristic of her. Then you remember. The fight in the car and the silence on the way home. The knot in your stomach before falling asleep and the hope for some kind of apology or at least a truce. You look down at the time again. Eight past seven. You missed it. The stomach knot is back. Suddenly breakfast isn’t tempting at all.  
  
                                                                                                            △  
  
No emotional support. No one to discuss the dream with. No comforting or help. You shake your head. Thinking like that won’t help, you’re way stronger than this. Fully capable of  handling it all on your own, no help needed. Right? Not a single word has been uttered between you and your twin and besides the awkward morning incident you’ve only met twice. Once while eating lunch and later on while passing her on your way to the bathroom. The decision to bring your dinner up to the room was solely because of the painful silence. A voice inside your head tells you to just apologize even though you did nothing wrong. If anything you actually helped her. Despite that, the decision to not apologize will lead to your sister thinking you actually intended to hurt her and that feeling stings like hell. She’s too important for that. Worth risking your pride for.   
You’ve only done three things since you got out of the shower. Eaten, drunk coffee and turned the letter wheel of the puzzle box. Small blisters started forming on your index finger so you moved on to your middle one. Then your left index finger. It’s wish thinking to think that you’ll open it before the same thing happens to your left middle finger. Thankfully switching between your right and left hand has never been a problem for you.  
  
Only a few drops of coffee come out of the pot as you try refilling your mug. That means another long walk to the kitchen. How wonderful. You could probably make the coffee with an eye fold on at this point and that really explains your current situation. The yawning is more frequent than it has ever been and that comes from a person who has been sleep deprived during at least 60% of his life. Bill is still haunting your mind so there’s no way in hell you’re falling asleep. Soon it’ll be hard to ignore the fact that you’re actually human and that sleep is inevitable. Keeping this up will be impossible without some kind of miracle or pure magic. Somewhere you think you read that the record time for staying awake was 11 days.Or maybe it was 10? Superhuman memory is sadly not one of your many skills.   
The whirlwind of thoughts distract you enough to bump into something on the way up the stairs, a laundry basket. Or rather, your sister holding a laundry basket. A small amount of coffee spills out, the clothes at the top of the pile instantly soak up the liquid.  
“Shit shit shit.”  
Mabel moans over dramatically.  
“Seriously Dipper? I just washed these.”  
“I’m so sorry.”  
She sighs and starts walking past you and you turn around. It’s time to apologize.  
“Mabel wait!”  
She turns her head and looks at you. You take a deep breath.  
“I’m sorry. For everything I said.”  
You breathe in again. Half lies.  
“I acted like an asshole. I’m so sorry if I hurt you. It wasn’t intended I promise.”  
Her eyes fill with concern, drowning out the previous bitterness and annoyance. It’s not really the response you were hoping for.  
“You look horrible.”  
“Gee thanks.”  
Really not the response you were hoping for.  
“Did you paint those eyebags on with a marker?!”  
“Yeah it’s sort of a new look thanks for noticing.”  
“Dipper this is worse than ever. Plus your face is all swollen and gross. Did something happen?”  
You hesitate for a long while before answering, doing your best to keep eye contact.  
“No. Nothing happened. ”  
You say, even though you’ve wished for this conversation to happen since you woke up.  
“You’re lying. Don’t think I can’t tell.”  
“I’m not lying!”  
She’s right though, she’s probably the only one who can see through you in a situation like this.  
“You have to tell me what happened Dipper.”   
She doesn’t break eye contact even though you sigh loudly.  
“Can’t we just talk about what happened yesterday? Please?”  
“I forgive you.”  
She looks serious. Concerned and serious.  
“Really?”   
“Yes. Now tell me what happened. Please.”  
“Alright but just..”  
You start walking up the stairs.  
“Let’s go to my room I uhm..”  
You lower your voice into a whisper.  
“I don’t want anyone else to find out.”  
The crease between Mabel’s eyebrows grows bigger.

  
                                                                                                           △  
  
“Bill.”  
“Bill? What do you mean?”  
“I had a dream with Bill in it.”  
“What?! The triangle guy?!”  
Mabel stands up. After getting into your room you hurriedly cleared the bed of books and papers before you both sat down. Until now, that is.  
“Hey calm down, it could’ve been a regular dream.”  
“Then how do you explain those beautiful eye bags?”  
“Sleep deprivation?”  
You scratch your neck. Seeming weak is the last thing you want to do so you decide to keep out some of the details.  
“What’d he do Dipper? You have to tell me!”  
“He uh..”  
“Yeah?”  
“He chased me through this forest, it looked like the Gravity Falls one but it was different, the ground was full of rocks and the trees they.. They had eyes.”  
Keep breathing. Don’t let the memories take control of you.  
“Go on.”  
“Well I tripped and fell, so he caught up. He started hurting me. Sorta.”  
Mabel’s jaw tenses. Something lights up in her eyes, something you haven’t seen since those kids bullied you for your birthmark in elementary school.  
“How did he hurt you?”  
“I’d rather not talk about it.”  
“This is important!”  
The memory of the horrible pain is still lingering.   
“Mabel I really don’t want to talk about it.”  
Her jaw tenses even further. It’s getting harder to breathe by the second.  
“Fine. What else happened?”  
“After a while I realized  I was dreaming so I tried taking control.”  
“And?”  
“I failed.”  
She sits down beside you again, putting her hand on top of  yours.   
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re awake now, right?”  
You nod. She’s right. Thankfully.  
“I didn’t think I’d wake up. I mean it’s illogical when you think about it but that’s what it felt like.”  
“Uhm Dipper?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Did you wake up because..”  
She breaks eye contact.  
“Because you died?”  
Well that would’ve been the easiest way out, wouldn’t it? Despite that your survival instincts had kicked in, sorting that exit out.   
“No. No I didn’t die.”  
“You just woke up?”  
“No. I uh..”  
This is so embarrassing.  
“Dipper you have to tell me, this is really important.”  
“Okay okay.”  
Your face heats up. Maybe you don’t have to tell her the full truth. Lying becomes harder and harder as you force yourself to speak.  
“I started crying and asked him to stop.”  
Underexagguration.   
“Hold on, that’s it? He just stopped? Because you started crying? And asked him to?”  
It sounds even more pathetic when she says it.  
“Yeah it was pretty weird. It almost looked as if he felt some kind of compassion? At least he lost control  _somehow_  and I was able to wake up.”  
Mabel goes quiet for a while. Processing.  
“Why would you think he showed compassion though?”  
“Man I don’t know, his expression I guess?”  
“His expression? He is a flying demon triangle, it’s not like he can express that many emotions with his uh..”  
“Eye?”  
“Yup.”  
It takes a while for you to open your mouth again.   
“I left out a pretty important detail.”  
“What?”  
You pause for a few seconds.  
“He looked human.”

  
                                                                                                         △  
  
  
Describing Bill’s features is way easier than you’d think it would be, even though it means giving in to the scenario playing nonstop in your head. There is a small part of you that sees the importance of remembering, to document and analyze. Even though it hurts.  
“We have to find a way stop this, he is not hurting you again!”  
Mabel’s hugging is very comforting. She’s one of the few people who you’re capable of engaging in any kind of body contact with. Even holding hands has become pretty difficult, at least since you reached puberty. Hand sweat is one of your worst enemies. Thankfully there aren’t that many situations where holding hands has been necessary though, mostly when you’re in some huge danger. You scoff a little.  
“Wow yeah that sounds easy, stopping the least killable thing we’ve ever encountered.”  
“That’s a really dumb reason to give up.”  
“Seriously though we have to keep in mind that it could’ve been just a regular nightmare-”  
“He is a dream demon.”  
“There’s still a possibility. ”  
“Yeah a small and stupid one. Dipper we  _need_  to take this seriously!”  
“Don’t you think I am?! I’m just trying to be realistic, see the possibilities instead of ignoring them!”  
“So what will it take for you to take action?! Huh?! Bill killing you?!”  
You break eye contact.  
“He doesn’t want to kill me. He told me so himself.”  
“And you believed him? You can’t trust him, you know that.”  
You move away from Mabel , the absence of her arm over your shoulder is making everything way colder. She looks a little hurt.  
“He was sincere.”  
“He’s not hurting you again. I promise.”  
That’s a pretty empty promise.  
“We’ll figure this out together.”  
She winks.   
“With my brains and your Dipperness.”  
You scoff. Her expression turns serious again.  
“He’s going down.”

                                                                                                           △

  
“Man sometimes I just wish this thing was numerical.”  
After your long talk about Bill you finally moved back to puzzle solving. Mabel hasn’t left your side since you told her about the dream and even though you haven’t directly expressed it to her it is very appreciated.   
“And what says it can’t be?”  
“I don’t know Mabel maybe the wheel of letters?”  
“So?”  
“So if it was numerical this wheel wouldn’t have letters on it but numbers.”  
“But you can spell out numbers, right?”  
“That’s stupid and illogical, if it had anything to do with numbers there would be numbers on the wheel.”  
“Give that it to me.”  
“Hey!”  
Snatching the box from you has become a pretty normal activity. You hate it.  
“Shh!   
She changes her voice into what might sound like some kind of performing magician.  
“Sooo, young man, what’s the first number that comes to mind?”  
The first number that comes to mind..  
“Seven.”  
“And why is that my good sir?”  
“Because of the seven letter word engraved into it, I guess? Mabel this is stupid just give me the box.”  
“Seven it is then! S E-”  
From the inside of the box a clicking sound emerges. Your eyes automatically widen. Mabel smirks back at you.  
“Seriously?!”  
“V E N.”  
The clicking stops. Nothing happens as Mabel tries to pry it open with brute force.   
“Maybe it’s stuck?”  
“Or maybe it’s locked?! That’s such a weird thing for it to be!”  
“Dipper please, at least it started making noises.”  
“Yeah. It did.”  
You  grab the box out of her hands.  
“Wait..”  
Your sister tilts her head to the side.  
“Huh?”  
“You were doing it wrong.”  
“No I weren’t!”  
“Yeah you were, look.”  
You move the wheel to A.  
“Each letter gets an own spin of the wheel, see?”  
You move on to S, pause for a few seconds and go back to A. Then you go to E and pause there. The box starts clicking again. You move it back to A.  
“You moved it from E to V straight away so it automatically didn’t count it in.”  
“How are you so sure of that? It’s not like it came with a users manual, right?”  
“It just seems the most logical.”  
She scoffs.  
“Okay nerd go on.”  
You’re already at it, V, spin, E, spin. You hold your breath.  N.  
Nothing happens. No clicking. Nothing.  
“Did it work?”  
“No, but we might’ve figured out the first two letters though.”  
“S and E?”  
“Well I mean it’s possible. I must’ve come across that letter combination before though but I can’t remember any clicking.”  
“That proves it! I’m a real wizard!”  
You raise your eyebrows and smile at her.  
“Well I’m the one with the weird forehead. And the bad guy in my head.”  
“You’re also the one with a weird thing for readheads.”  
“Really Mabel? Really?”  
You groan as your sister starts giggling.

  
                                                                                                        △  
  
  
The box clicks every single time the wheel goes from S to E, almost as if as teasing you. Close, but not close enough. Sighing is your new form of communication.   
“It’s probably not even in English.”  
“Hm?”  
Mabel looks up at you. While you’ve done your best to solve the annoying puzzle she has been drawing in one of your notebooks. It’d probably annoy you if it wasn’t for the fact that she stayed with you for such a long time despite being extremely bored.  
“The password. I mean I’ve already kept that in mind but-”  
“What other language could it be then?”  
“Well judging by the origin and age I  _think_  it is it’s probably in a european one.”  
“Ooo like Norwegian?”  
“Yeah, or, you know, Latin. It was common to write in Latin, especially in religious contexts.”  
“But it’s not exactly a religious box, right?”  
“Well we don’t know anything about that yet, but the church had a lot money at that time and this box is a pretty fine work.”  
“And you don’t think that’s far fetched?”  
You sigh.  
“Yeah of course I do, everything seems far fetched by now. But I need something to go on.”  
“Well it doesn’t hurt to try, right? With latin words I mean.”  
You show her the blisters on the tips of your fingers from turning the wheel.  
“Are you sure?”  
She slaps away your hand.  
“Ew gross.”  
You pick up your phone.  
“Hey what are you doing?”  
“Googling latin words on S.”  
“You don’t know them  by heart? I am so disappointed by your nerd skills.”  
You groan and start entering each word on the list.

Secludo,  _to shut off; to confine, to separate from others._    
Sectator,  _m. a follower, hanger-on._    
Segnis,  _slow, tardy, sluggish, lingering._  
Semel,  _once, a single time; for the first time; once for all._  
Senium,  _decay; gloom, grief._    
Sentio,  _to feel, perceive; to experience, feel the force of a thing; to realize a truth; to hold an opinion._  
Sepelio,  _to bury; to ruin, destroy; partic._  
The clicking continues as you move on to the letter P. To your “great surprise” it stops after you continue to E.  
Sepono,  _to put on one side, place apart, reserve; to put out of the way, banish; to distinguish, divide._  
Still nothing.

Septem,  _num. seven._  The clicking doesn’t end.

  
  
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“Uh Mabel.”  
“Huh?”  
“I think I cracked it.”  
“WHAT?!”  
You both hold your breath as the clicking suddenly stops and the box slowly opens, automatically. What happens next paralyzes you. Literally. Black smoke slithers out of the box, like a serpent. It whirls around you, growing into a neverending black wall. Your whole world becomes pitch black as the thick smoke surrounds you completely. You open your mouth to breathe only to feel blackness traveling down your throat, filling up your lungs. You want to cough, throw up the thick thick darkness, but you’re incapable of moving even the tiniest muscles. A feeling of hopelessness and despair grows inside you, getting bigger and bigger as you desperately try to cough. Then, after what feels like forever, the smoke thins out and you gasp for air. Real air. Mabel stands transfixed staring at you with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. She points at the box , a pulsing blue light emerging from it. You reach inside of the box and grab hold of the source of the pure bright light. A pendant.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh dipper, there you go opening a cheap replica of pandora's box, good job. you definitely didn't see that coming.  
> oh and did you enjoy my not-obvious-at-all foreshadowing? it's very smart and thought through. I bet not a single one of you figured out the password before dipper did. there's a reason behind all of this, I promise. 
> 
> so as always, thank you dear precious reader for reading and thank you for all of your support in general!! I know I say this on repeat but it means so much to me and it's extremely motivating. with all of that said I can assure you, this is only the beginning..  
> that was way too cheesy and dramatic I'm so sorry


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